Templarios

Good article on failed state definition: http://www.e-ir.info/2012/12/07/is-failed-state-a-useless-term/

Despite a large degree of international recognition, Mexico has clearly failed to achieve a Weberian standard of statehood. Endemic levels of violence generated by former President Calderon’s so-called ‘war on drugs’ has claimed over 50 000 lives, as well as corroding many core institutions of the state (Correa-Cabrera [/i]and Nava 2012: 3). If sovereignty is to be judged by the standard of Max Weber, then it is difficult to view Mexico as anything other than failed. While this may initially seem hyperbolic, it is crucial to fully appreciate the level in which the ‘war on drugs’ has critically undermined the Mexican state. As a consequence of ongoing violence in 2011, the state of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico declared itself ‘ungovernable’, with many fearing Mexico was approaching ‘critical mass’, a period in which credible authority would be replaced by anarchy throughout the entire North of Mexico (Hale 2011: 6). Despite this direct challenge to its internal sovereignty, however, Mexico’s external sovereignty remains relatively uncontested. Even among those who stress the profound negative impact of ‘war on drugs’ on the Mexican state, there is a clear reluctance to re-conceptualise the troubled state as ‘failed’ (Jones 2011: 6:08; Ackerman 2009: 1). This unwillingness to hold Mexico to the same standard of other vulnerable states highlights an important dimension of ‘failed state’ logic. Rather than resulting from an objective truth, the term ‘failed state’ is centred on subjective interpretations, which prioritise the ‘failings’ of some states over others. This fact is explored by Call, who argues that powerful Western states view ‘failing’ or ‘failed’ states through a ‘lens of their interests’, treating strategically important vulnerable states fundamentally different than those that neither pose a serious threat nor possess important natural resources (2011: 322). This demonstrates clearly the primacy of ideational over material factors in the term ‘failed state’. The implications of this inconsistent application of the term ‘failed state’ should be obvious; namely a definitional incoherence inhibitive to academic clarity and effective policy. This is made even more apparent through an analysis of the way in which the term ‘failed state’ is increasingly used to describe authoritarian regimes.[/i]

Mad_Max wrote:Democracy? Surely SmartAlex Misspoke..............
.

Actually, Smartalex didn't say it...some French guy named Joseph de Maistre said it back in 1811. The original line read, "Every nation gets the government it deserves." The more modern usage is, "In a democracy, people get the government they deserve."

Mireles' supporters put up a roadblock along the coast and held a small demonstration on his behalf in Morelia yesterday (Saturday). More protests are planned for today. From Sinembargo...

Simpatizantes de Mireles bloquean límites entre Michoacán y Colima; las protestas llegan a Morelia

http://www.sinembargo.mx/28-06-2014/1040959

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sinembargo.mx%2F28-06-2014%2F1040959

Smartalex wrote:

Mad_Max wrote:Democracy? Surely SmartAlex Misspoke..............
.

Actually, Smartalex didn't say it...some French guy named Joseph de Maistre said it back in 1811. The original line read, "Every nation gets the government it deserves."  The more modern usage is, "In a democracy, people get the government they deserve."

When a person uses a quote or paraphrases one , as in this case, it is disingenuous to claim otherwise. Regardless, just because de Maistre coined the phrase originally, doesn't make it true. There are so many cases throughout history of the little guy having little influence on the type of government that rules over them. Michoacan, at the moment is one of them.

viajero wrote:

Kottke wrote:

They had a true voice in the matter? If Michoacan is what many concede, a failed state, then how can it be called a democracy?

Maybe the question should be why is Michoacan in particular a "failed state"when many other states in the republic are not.

I would imagine that many factors lead to the present state of affairs there. For starters, geography. History? Calderon's misguided attempt at pacification?

viajero wrote:

Kottke wrote:

They had a true voice in the matter? If Michoacan is what many concede, a failed state, then how can it be called a democracy?

Maybe the question should be why is Michoacan in particular a "failed state"when many other states in the republic are not.

Some of the failed or very troubled States are Michoacan, Guerrero, Coahuila, Tamaulipus, Veracruz, Tabasco. That is 15% of the country.   The reason that Michoacan and Guerrero stand out is that the citizens are arming themselves.  

I would say "failed state" isn't the right term.  The government, local, state, and federal, are run by the "ruling elite" just the way they want them run, for their own benefits.

Playaboy wrote:

Some of the failed or very troubled States are Michoacan, Guerrero, Coahuila, Tamaulipus, Veracruz, Tabasco. That is 15% of the country.   

The other 85% of the country probably won't be participating in the civil war/revolution that some people been predicting.

Here's an update on Mr. Mireles' latest predicament. From Sinembargo...

La PGR consigna al líder de las autodefensas de Michoacán, José Manuel Mireles; lo trasladan a penal federal

http://www.sinembargo.mx/29-06-2014/1041457

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sinembargo.mx%2F29-06-2014%2F1041457

viajero wrote:

Playaboy wrote:

Some of the failed or very troubled States are Michoacan, Guerrero, Coahuila, Tamaulipus, Veracruz, Tabasco. That is 15% of the country.   

The other 85% of the country probably won't be participating in the civil war/revolution that some people been predicting.

I could easily add another 6-10 States where the criminals rule, where people live in abject poverty and/or fear.

What do you see as the solution in Michoacan, and the rest of the States I named, in the next year? 5 Years? How do you see this ending?

According to the feds, Mr. Mireles is being held for possession of illegal firearms as well as possession of pot and cocaine. From El Universal...

Investigan a Mireles también por delitos contra la salud

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/2014/mireles-salud-pgr-accion-1020105.html

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eluniversal.com.mx%2Festados%2F2014%2Fmireles-salud-pgr-accion-1020105.html

According to Mr. Mireles' attorney, the guns and drugs were planted in his truck by the arresting officers. She would have you believe that Mr. Mireles, as well as his bodyguards, were unarmed. From El Universal...

Abogada asegura que 'sembraron' armas y droga a Mireles

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/2014/abogada-sembraron-armas-droga-mireles-1020049.html

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eluniversal.com.mx%2Festados%2F2014%2Fabogada-sembraron-armas-droga-mireles-1020049.html

Well, this Mireles character certainly did manage to get his name back in the news. From the English version of El Universal...

Accounts of Mireles will be investigated: Castillo

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/in-english/2014/accounts-mireles-investigated-90809.html

no comment

Smartalex wrote:Well, this Mireles character certainly did manage to get his name back in the news. From the English version of El Universal...

Accounts of Mireles will be investigated: Castillo

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/in-english/2014/accounts-mireles-investigated-90809.html

He also did some prison time back in the 80s after being arrested for possessing 80 kilos of pot,then he did a little more time in California for practicing medicine with out a license.
Guys like Mireles,el platano,papa smurf,el unico etc. leaders of the autodefenses don't inspire a lot of confidence in the movement,IMO.

A big amen to what you said, viajero.
Some people were treating him like the "second coming", when the only solution is government action, no matter how long it takes.
Vigilante action has never produced permanent results anywhere, anytime, and can easily go awry.

Raising my hand in disagreement. The government has not been able to protect many many many people - too many are in bed with the narcos.The truth is unknown - Smart Alex sounds like Fox News - with his - this Mireles character comments. From what i have read - and I skip the Fox News like sources - I say thumbs down on the government and thumbs up on Mireles. This is a narco soap opera when it comes to the government. Vigilante action is the only way to get rid of the rampant corruption - is my two cents. You might feel different if it was YOUR family being killed, extorted etc. and YOU walked in their shoes.

Although Mr. Mireles is currently being held incommunicado and hasn't been allowed to speak to his attorney yet, he has spoken to the Mexican human rights agency. Here are two interesting videos of what he had to say. Sorry, I could not find a translation. In one video he seems to be complaining that the handcuffs (esposas) were too tight and, although he had a hood pulled over his head, he could see the authorities planting guns and dope in his truck. In the other video he seems to be complaining that he needs his meds. Any help out there with the translation? In any case, here's Mr. Mireles' side of the story from Grillonautas...

Mad_Max wrote:Raising my hand in disagreement.  The government has not been able to protect many many many people - too many are in bed with the narcos.The truth is unknown - Smart Alex sounds like Fox News - with his - this Mireles character comments.  From what i have read - and I skip the Fox News like sources - I say thumbs down on the government and thumbs up on Mireles.  This is a narco soap opera when it comes to the government.  Vigilante action is the only way to get rid of the rampant corruption - is my two cents.  You might feel different if it was YOUR family being killed, extorted etc. and YOU walked in their shoes.

\
agreed! and mireles is a doctor not a mister and a big danger to the government. the self defencas have wrought wonders in michoacan and elswhere.

Mr. Mireles' defense attorney is named Talía Vazquez. Let's see what Ms. Vazquez has to say. From Informador...


La única 'arma' de Mireles era una pierna de pollo: abogada

http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2014/535950/6/la-unica-arma-de-mireles-era-una-pierna-de-pollo-abogada.htm

Google Translation:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.informador.com.mx%2Fmexico%2F2014%2F535950%2F6%2Fla-unica-arma-de-mireles-era-una-pierna-de-pollo-abogada.htm

http://mexicovoices.blogspot.mx/2014/07/mexico-drug-war-michoacan-jose-mireles.html

Posted: 01 Jul 2014 12:02 PM PDT
La Jornada: Pedro Miguel

On May 14, on these pages and under the same byline, appeared an article titled Mireles in the Spotlight [MV Translation: Mireles in the Crosshairs]. The article concluded that against José Manuel Mireles
"and against his followers a triple alliance is being configured that can be schematized as Tuta-Castillo-Smurf, and that single perspective reveals (because people are not stupid) the true nature of the peñista Michoacán strategy."
MV Note: Servando Gómez Martínez, La Tuta, heads The Knights Templar cartel. Estanislao Beltrán, Papa Smurf, is a self-defense leader chosen by José Mireles to be his bodyguard when Mireles was convalescing from injuries sustained in airplane crash. Beltrán joined State Rural Force and is now prominent follower of Alfredo Castillo, Federal Commissioner for Public Security and Comprehensive Development of Michoacán.

Coincidentally, 45 days later, the self-defense leader was arrested along with 82 other people, precisely in the village of La Mira, in the Municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas. The episode is part of a script. The only thing left to chance was that this headline might once again focus on La Mira.

The assessment made a ​​month and a half ago remains valid. Although Commissioner Alfredo Castillo insists on assuring that things in Michoacan "have changed," the only visible change is the manager of the state's Executive Branch. For the rest, organized crime is alive and active. As an example, there is the murder of self-defense and rural guard Santiago Moreno Valencia and his entire family (wife and three children aged 11 to 16 years) just last June 19 (http://is.gd/TLd76C).

In his last public address before his arrest, Mireles said he received a call for help when Moreno Valencia's ranch was being fired upon. He made ​​contact with the military in the area and asked them for support in order to assist the victims. The soldiers replied that they were not allowed to move from their positions; instead, they blocked the transit of the doctor and his men. When self-defense forces were finally able to reach the ranch, situated on the border between Jalisco and Michoacán, they found only corpses. The crime had already been committed, and Federal Police and rural guards obedient to [Commissioner Alfredo] Castillo undertook "the search for the murderers." In other words, many citizens of Michoacán go around armed not because they want to break the law, but out of a simple desire to stay alive.

Eight days later, Mireles was arrested for "aggravated violation of the Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives" (LFAFE), said Castillo, and for "crimes against health in the form of simple possession of prohibited substances." The second [charge arising] because in the vehicle carrying the leader and his bodyguards were found, in addition to firearms and cartridges, "four bags with marijuana and a bag of cocaine."

The second part of the accusation may be a bit suspicious, because we know that when it comes to Mireles, Commissioner Castillo is very adept at turning real events into a 'crime novel'. In May, for example, Castillo said that he had pictures of the doctor "holding a head like a trophy," when the truth is that Dr. Mireles was simply helping an agent of the Public Ministry [prosecutor or investigative police] to identify a corpse (SinEmbargo: article in Spanish shows controversial photo circulated by government).

But the most interesting part of the statement made yesterday by Peña Nieto's Commissioner is the one regarding arms possession. In a desire to put forward an alibis reminiscent of the South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, Castillo censured the now alleged noncompliance with the
"agreement with the leaders of organized communities, including Mireles himself, that as of May 10 neither the mobilization of armed civilians nor the carrying of high-calibre weapons would be allowed."
Let's read it well: on April 14, the date of that agreement (which, to be sure, Mireles denies having signed), Castillo absolutely took to himself the extra-legal authority to suspend implementation of the LFAFE in Michoacán for almost a month. Then the man responsible for resolving the case of Paulette Gebara Farah in the state of Mexico (which gave way to another memorable literary creation) granted, God knows on what basis, the force of law to an agreement and, incidentally, he set himself up, and set up the self-defense leaders who signed it, as lawmakers.With the same legal smartness, he decided that the agreement would take effect in 26 days.

However, it took another 47 days before he would decide to restore enforcement of the LFAFE. He would enforce that agreement and proceed with detaining Mireles and his men when they were advancing towards the port of Lázaro Cárdenas to fight The Knights Templar entrenched there. Significantly, for these [The Knights Templar] the LFAFE has no enforcement date.

Now Mireles is no longer either in the spotlight or in La Mira, but rather in a Sonora federal prison accused of illegal possession of firearms and drug trafficking. His companions have been sent to half a dozen prisons in various parts of the country. In fact, enforcement of the rule of law in the style of Alfredo Castillo should cause a huge sigh of relief and reassurance to the leaders of organized crime in Michoacán. With bodyguards like this, who needs to go around worried? Spanish original

thanks max-this can also be seen on borderland beat along with before and after pictures of the autodefensa and family that was murdered by[?].

So we can conclude that the anticipated civil war/revolution has been temporarily delayed by the failed state of Michoacan, as Mireles was the best hope to carry out this mission?
There is reality, propaganda, and "is what is...is".
This is México, not some idyllic fairy tale of " Robin Hood vs the Sheriff of Nottingham".

in all the time i have been following the state of affairs in michoacan which is even before the autodefenses and doctor mireles came on the scene i have never heard or read anything about civil war/revolution except by a coupla posters on this board[you included now?]. so what fairy tail are you talking about then? to a lot of us[i assume,including me] who know how to read and have the ability to determine what is going on in spite of spin doctoring and official/non official rhetoric,and as convoluted as this episode has become, one can determine that this indeed is a part of mexico and has nothing in common with the fabled story of robin hood,sherriff of nottingham and king john who eventually wrote the magna carta in real life. and just to add some irishness to this it has nothing in common with the ira and it's escapades.

Nice analogy, Slainte.

Here's an update on Mr. Mireles. A judge as well as the Mexican human rights agency have determined there were no improprieties in his arrest. However, the human rights agency did get a court order to see that Mr. Mireles gets medical attention. He is diabetic and needs insulin shots daily. Mireles' arraignment was postponed and a "clarification" of his legal status is expected to be issued the Mexican court later today.

Pedro,the civil war/revolution/robin hood comment was not directed to you. Your comments have been intelligent observations.
In all countries there is always a segment of the population that is dissatifed with the status quo. Most of my contact is with the Mexican community and the majority do not want civil strife, i.e., "revolution".
To think the 5 or 6 million plus inhabitants of the Guadalajara area or the 20 + million around Mexico City are going to rise up in revolution, is ludicrous fanasty. Comandante Marcos tried that 20 years ago and all that resulted in was "the taming of the shrew".
And just to add a little more Irishness, if the cartels or the government were British,....they would come.   

I forgot to add that here we would have to change our name to "Nosotros Mismos" = Sinn Fein....but not to worry, it's too early yet....so let's  

Slainte,my favorite comment regarding the imminent revolution came from tob when a poster there gushed "we're living in historic times,imagine the murals!".